Sneaky Tricks Nothing New To Soviet Spies

August 22, 1985|By Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The Soviet Union, accused Wednesday of using a chemical powder to help track U.S. diplomats in Moscow, long has employed ''dirty tricks'' to keep tabs on diplomats' communications and activities.

To a considerable extent, all players in the espionage game use various ''bugging'' and tracking techniques. But the Soviets tend to get caught more frequently, experts say -- perhaps because they are often more brazen about it.

The most famous Soviet maneuver was the implantation of a listening device in a carved replica of the U.S. Great Seal, which hung in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1945 to 1952 before the electronic bug was discovered.

The late Henry Cabot Lodge, when he was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, displayed the bugged seal at a dramatic U.N. session 25 years ago. He charged that more than 100 such listening devices had been found in U.S. embassies, missions and residences in the Soviet Union and its satellite nations.

In another case, the Soviets for many years bombarded the U.S. Embassy in Moscow with microwaves, apparently either to activate listening devices or to jam U.S. electronic intelligence-gathering equipment.

The microwave assault was first detected in the 1960s, reaching its peak in 1975 and 1976 before it was ended in 1978. However, it resumed and was detected two years ago, when U.S. officials issued a strong protest. The microwaves did not pose a health hazard, they said, but were objectionable as a ''matter of principle.''

The Soviets also have been reported to use their embassy buildings in Washington and the consulate in San Francisco for intercepting telephone and data communications carried by microwaves. Computers can sort out signals and listen to calls.

Last March the Soviets were accused of having used sensing devices capable of picking up what was written on typewriters at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The bugging, which lasted at least a year, ended after being discovered in 1984.